Literacy Shifts

Goal: Develop a deep understanding of the key shifts required by the CCSS for English Language Arts and Literacy.

. Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

Regular practice with complex text

and its academic language

Ideas for my content/classroom:

ELA Shifts One Pagerfrom

Achieve the Core

Learner Teacher

ELA Shift #1

• 50/50 balance K-5

• 70/30 in grades 9-12

• Students learning to read should exercise their ability to comprehend complex text through read-aloud texts.

• In grades 2+, students begin reading more complex texts, consolidating the foundational skills with reading comprehension.

• Reading aloud texts that are well-above grade level should be done throughout K-5 and beyond.

Content-Rich Nonfiction

Why Build Knowledge Through Content-Rich Nonfiction?

• Students are required to read very little informational text in elementary and middle school.

• Non-fiction makes up the vast majority of required reading in college/workplace.

• Informational text is harder for students to comprehend than narrative text.

• Supports students learning how to read different types of informational text.

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• Sequencing Texts to Build Knowledge

• Not random reading

• Literacy in social studies/history, science, technical subjects, and the arts is embedded

• ResourcesPage 33 in the CCSS for ELA/Literacy – The Human Body

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Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text

• Most college and workplace writing requires evidence

• Ability to cite evidence differentiates strong from weak student performance on NAEP

• Evidence is a major emphasis of the ELA Standards: Reading Standard 1, Writing Standard 9, Speaking and Listening standards 2, 3 and 4, all focus on the gathering, evaluating and presenting of evidence from text

• Being able to locate and deploy evidence are hallmarks of strong readers and writers

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•In “Casey at the Bat,” Casey strikes out. Describe a time when you failed at something.

•In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King discusses nonviolent protest. Discuss, in writing, a time when you wanted to fight against something that you felt was unfair.

•In “The Gettysburg Address” Lincoln says the nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Why is equality an important value to promote?

•What makes Casey’s experiences at bat humorous?

•What can you infer from King’s letter about the letter that he received?

•“The Gettysburg Address” mentions the year 1776. According to Lincoln’s speech, why is this year significant to the events described in the speech?

Not Text-Dependent Text-Dependent

Text-Dependent Questions

• From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer• Have the students identify the different methods of

removing warts that Tom and Huckleberry talk about. Discuss the charms that they say and the items (i.e. dead cats) they use. Ask students to devise their own charm to remove warts. Students could develop a method that would fit in the time of Tom Sawyer and a method that would incorporate items and words from current time. Boys played with dead cats and frogs, during Tom’s time. Are there cultural ideas or artifacts from the current time that could be used in the charm?

Sample Literary Question:Pre-Common Core Standards

Sample Text Dependent Question: Common Core Standards

• From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

• Why does Tom hesitate to allow Ben to paint the fence? How does Twain construct his sentences to reflect that hesitation? What effect do Tom’s hesitations have on Ben?

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Regular Practice With Complex text and Its Academic Language

• Gap between complexity of college and high school texts is huge.

• What students can read, in terms of complexity is greatest predictor of success in college (ACT study).

• Too many students are reading at too low a level.(<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts).

• Standards include a staircase of increasing text complexity from elementary through high school.

• Standards also focus on building general academic vocabulary so critical to comprehension.

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